# Where to purchase safely in Cuba?



## rizzle (Mar 4, 2008)

If you are buying cigars while visiting Cuba do you have the rampant worry of buying fakes? Where should one buy that you would have no concerns as to authenticity? Are there LCDH's in Cuba? 

Thanks


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## 68TriShield (May 15, 2006)

Yes and factory stores as well. (I think anyway)


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## vicvitola (Mar 18, 2008)

rizzle said:


> If you are buying cigars while visiting Cuba do you have the rampant worry of buying fakes? Where should one buy that you would have no concerns as to authenticity? Are there LCDH's in Cuba?
> 
> Thanks


Define fakes. Do you mean not Cuban tobacco? If that is what you are asking there is a slim chance you will buy cigars in Cuba that are not made with Cuban tobacco(provided they are made with tobacco). So that brings us to the quality of the tobacco. It's still a crap shoot but there are fantastic cigars to be had on the street along with the nightmares. A good angle is to tell the seller to sell you one and if you like it you will be back for more.

Yes there are LCDH's in Cuba, several. Of course it is illegal for residents of the US to travel there with few exceptions, .....but you knew that already.


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## rizzle (Mar 4, 2008)

vicvitola said:


> Define fakes. Do you mean not Cuban tobacco? If that is what you are asking there is a slim chance you will buy cigars in Cuba that are not made with Cuban tobacco(provided they are made with tobacco). So that brings us to the quality of the tobacco. It's still a crap shoot but there are fantastic cigars to be had on the street along with the nightmares. A good angle is to tell the seller to sell you one and if you like it you will be back for more.
> 
> Yes there are LCDH's in Cuba, several. Of course it is illegal for residents of the US to travel there with few restrictions. Of couse you knew that already.


Fakes as in counterfeits. What I am alluding to is not buying off the street but rather a shop/shops where you know the product you are buying is legit. And yes, I know of the restrictions, etc. It is not myself that will be there rather a non-US citizen friend,


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## Footbag (May 14, 2008)

There are a few LCDH's in Havana. I cannot speak for which have better selections, but from what I understand, these stores are the only way to go to verify authenticity.


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## vicvitola (Mar 18, 2008)

rizzle said:


> Fakes as in counterfeits. What I am alluding to is not buying off the street but rather a shop/shops where you know the product you are buying is legit. And yes, I know of the restrictions, etc. It is not myself that will be there rather a non-US citizen friend,


LCDH and Factory

I hope they have a most enjoyable time :tu

I know I would (If I were able to go)


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## floydpink (Feb 15, 2007)

If you're looking for a selection of singles to try, there is, or was, no better choice than the store in the Hotel Nacional in Havana.

As far as boxes go, you would be better to go to one of the LCDHs.

Try some singles at the Hotel first i say...


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

Counterfits are all over the place in Cuba. Do not buy from someone who has a story behind the box. Go to the factory stores and pay the expected price.


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## Coffee Grounds (Feb 14, 2007)

I recently smoked "grey market" CC's. Grey market meaning they were bought in Cuba off the street. A friend of mine from Canada goes a few times a year and buys off the street and they turn out to be very good. He picked up boxes of Cohiba GENIOS & Esplendidos and I smoked one of each. The genios might be one of the best cigars I have had. The Esplendidos which I have smoked before was good and I am 99% sure both of these cigars were Cuban puros and were rolled perfectly.

If its legal to buy off the street I would go ahead and take the chance on them. I think he paid like $75 for the Esplendidos and maybe $125 for the Genios. For one of those rollers that amount of money is like 3 months salary.
My friend told me that the rollers are allowed to take home or smoke 2 cigars a day.


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## DMK (Jun 16, 2008)

rizzle said:


> If you are buying cigars while visiting Cuba do you have the rampant worry of buying fakes? Where should one buy that you would have no concerns as to authenticity? Are there LCDH's in Cuba?
> 
> Thanks


I regularly get boxes from family and friends who vacation in Cuba.
The only way to ensure that what you are buying is legit is to purchase from 
1 - the factory after a tour, that will provide you with the required receipt so you can export your cigars without problems. 
2 - legit shops, again they will provide the receipt. or 
3 - at the airport duty free shop on your way home, again they will provide the receipt. without the proper paperwork, they can and will seize your cigars and worse... do you really want to spend time in a Cuban jail??
If you want to buy a box to smoke there, and want to take a chance on smoking banana leaves... by all means buy off of one of the many street vendors or a resort employee the has a cousin who works in the factory... etc.


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## pmwz (Aug 9, 2007)

This link should help you: http://marty.514crew.com/
Look at beetle holes. The last pack of cigars that my mom brought me back had a couple of cigars with holes. Freeze your cigars when you get home.


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## Moro (Jun 30, 2008)

LCDH and factories. Period. Elsewhere ye might buy cuban cigars (it IS Cuba), but not the ones ye think ye're buying.


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## rizzle (Mar 4, 2008)

Thanks for the replies and the good information. I appreciate it.


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## kyee (Sep 16, 2005)

Coffee Grounds said:


> I recently smoked "grey market" CC's. Grey market meaning they were bought in Cuba off the street. A friend of mine from Canada goes a few times a year and buys off the street and they turn out to be very good. He picked up boxes of Cohiba GENIOS & Esplendidos and I smoked one of each. The genios might be one of the best cigars I have had. The Esplendidos which I have smoked before was good and I am 99% sure both of these cigars were Cuban puros and were rolled perfectly.
> 
> If its legal to buy off the street I would go ahead and take the chance on them. I think he paid like $75 for the Esplendidos and maybe $125 for the Genios. For one of those rollers that amount of money is like 3 months salary.
> My friend told me that the rollers are allowed to take home or smoke 2 cigars a day.


You're joking, right? I can guarantee you those cigars were fake. And those aren't the definition of "grey market" cigars, those are the defintion of FAKE cigars!


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## ZedR2 (Jul 6, 2008)

Buy on your way home at the airport , that way it's all good , no fakes and the right paperwork ...
An hour or two later their sitting in your home humidor !!
This is the only way I buy unless I go to a factory for something to smoke while I am there , as far as from the street , I guess donkey shit , sawdust , wood shavings and hair must taste pretty good to some 
Buy the Cohibas with the glass top boxes , I hear their excellent


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## Fullycanvassed (May 25, 2008)

Wow great site, thanks.

I thought CC prices in cuba would be a lot cheaper than the online vendors - but it seems they're about 10-20% cheaper. Oh well. I still want to visit Cuba someday.



pmwz said:


> This link should help you: http://marty.514crew.com/
> Look at beetle holes. The last pack of cigars that my mom brought me back had a couple of cigars with holes. Freeze your cigars when you get home.


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## mosesbotbol (Sep 21, 2005)

kyee said:


> You're joking, right? I can guarantee you those cigars were fake. And those aren't the definition of "*grey market*" cigars, those are the defintion of FAKE cigars!


:tpd:

Yes, those are not grey market cigars. Grey market cigars are authentic, but not distributed by offical channels. Just like several of the European online vendors that sell through bonded warehouses. They are not "Habanos Dealers", yet sell a real product through parallel markets or other means.

Cigars on the street are just fake "Habanos". Yes, they are "Cuban", and may taste OK, but these are important distinctions.


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## Coffee Grounds (Feb 14, 2007)

kyee said:


> You're joking, right? I can guarantee you those cigars were fake. And those aren't the definition of "grey market" cigars, those are the defintion of FAKE cigars!


I can guarantee you were not with me when I smoked them.

I can also guarantee that you were not with us as we compared them to other boxes of the same cigars that were purchased from authorized venders.

So maybe these are not considered "grey market" but they came from the streets of Cuba. The story was that they were bought from rollers.

I thought they were very good and real. I only have about 5 years of experience with smoking CC's but those are my thoughts.


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## vicvitola (Mar 18, 2008)

Coffee Grounds said:


> I can guarantee you were not with me when I smoked them.
> 
> I can also guarantee that you were not with us as we compared them to other boxes of the same cigars that were purchased from authorized venders.
> 
> ...


:tpd:

We know what we experience when we smoke something. I know many that have said they bought a single or two off the street in the old city and spent half the day looking for the guy that sold them the cigars because they were THAT GOOD. Those same people have also gotten a few dog rockets as well but for what you pay for a few singles here and there on the street there....who cares?


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## pmwz (Aug 9, 2007)

Fullycanvassed said:


> Wow great site, thanks.
> 
> I thought CC prices in cuba would be a lot cheaper than the online vendors - but it seems they're about 10-20% cheaper. Oh well. I still want to visit Cuba someday.


Some of the prices are a little bit off. I can save around 40% compared to the german prices. 
i havent been to cuba but i read that some of the custom rolls are pretty good.


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## kyee (Sep 16, 2005)

Coffee Grounds said:


> I can guarantee you were not with me when I smoked them.
> 
> I can also guarantee that you were not with us as we compared them to other boxes of the same cigars that were purchased from authorized venders.
> 
> ...


You can believe what you want, I'm just telling you - they're fake. $75 for Esplendido's? For how many? 3 or 4 sticks? that's the going rate. If you're saying $75 for an entire box.... good luck with those sticks. like the saying goes, "there's one born every minute".


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

Coffee Grounds said:


> The story was that they were bought from rollers.


If they are from the streets, remove the bands, take them out of their boxes and then tie them up with a ribbon. Now you have some authentic custom rolled cuban cigars.


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## a2vr6 (Oct 28, 2006)

Coffee Grounds said:


> I can guarantee you were not with me when I smoked them.
> 
> I can also guarantee that you were not with us as we compared them to other boxes of the same cigars that were purchased from authorized venders.
> 
> ...


I don't doubt they were good cigars but $75 for fakes? I wouldn't have given them more than $20-$30. You gave a years worth of there salary. lol


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## Coffee Grounds (Feb 14, 2007)

Ok here it is 

A friend from Canada that goes to Cuba twice a year and buys from the streets.

I did not think they would be real but they were to the best of my taste buds.

I keep a cigar journal with all of my tastings and reviews. The Esplendidos flavor profile & burn came very close to matching my other 2 reviews of the cigar. I will say that the draw was bit more firm than my other tasting.

The Magicos which I had never smoked before might be one of the smoothest smokes I have had. The balance on this cigar was really dam near perfect with a razor sharp burn. The construction of this cigar was perfect. 

So if these were fake the were the best fakes I have smoked and I hope this friend of mine brings back a couple of boxes on his next trip but I think he is limited on just 2 boxes per trip.

If you would like to argue that there is no possible way these could be real go ahead and pm me.


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## GrtndpwrflOZ (May 17, 2007)

PM me? PM me?
I want to watch the bickering.
I don't have a clue if they were real or not.
and YES, usually the case is "if it's too good too be true...." you know the rest. But alas some of my friends find Harleys from the 30's and 40's and get them for incredible prices because they have been sitting in garages for years and the widows want to get rid of everything.
In this scenario the prices are "too good to be true" yet it is true: $800 for a 1949 Harley. 

Anyway.
How someone can veheamently(sp) state that ""THEY ARE FAKE" is beyond me. You actually don't know.

The best thing I have heard is Ronnies statement about taking the labels off and calling them cuban custom rolled.

blah blah blah blah
Thank you for your time
just my :2

B
:chk:chk:chk


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## BroncoHorvath (Aug 7, 2008)

I've been going to Cuba since 1988 and started smoking cigars in 1996. The only places you can buy authentic Habanos are in resorts, factories and Casa Del Habanos stores. Of course many hotels sometime have featured rollers making cigars in their cigars shops, and they are usually very good cigars. In some of my trips, I've had freshly rolled cigars by Cuban friends of mine and they were great, but also, they were not boxed and you cannot bring them out of the country. Some of the best cubans cigars I've had were freshly rolled by one of my firends wife.
But to get back to the commercial brands, if you by off the street or a person that claims they have a cousin that works in a factory, the are FAKE.... The punishment is too great for any of the rollers to take.

The prices are the same everywhere on the Island, except in some fancy hotels where they are a little higher.


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## Cadillac (Feb 28, 2007)

BroncoHorvath said:


> I've been going to Cuba since 1988 and started smoking cigars in 1996. The only places you can buy authentic Habanos are in resorts, factories and Casa Del Habanos stores. Of course many hotels sometime have featured rollers making cigars in their cigars shops, and they are usually very good cigars. In some of my trips, I've had freshly rolled cigars by Cuban friends of mine and they were great, but also, they were not boxed and you cannot bring them out of the country. Some of the best cubans cigars I've had were freshly rolled by one of my firends wife.
> But to get back to the commercial brands, if you by off the street or a person that claims they have a cousin that works in a factory, the are FAKE.... The punishment is too great for any of the rollers to take.
> 
> The prices are the same everywhere on the Island, except in some fancy hotels where they are a little higher.


All good advice, but I personally would never even buy a box in any of the hotels - Usually to expensive. When I go, I buy from LCDH only. Never even at the airport because once again, usually over-priced, sub-par selection & questionable humidity control...


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## BroncoHorvath (Aug 7, 2008)

Cadillac said:


> All good advice, but I personally would never even buy a box in any of the hotels - Usually to expensive. When I go, I buy from LCDH only. Never even at the airport because once again, usually over-priced, sub-par selection & questionable humidity control...


I agree about the hotels but depending on what airport you leave from, some of them have a great selection....


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## BigVito (Jan 1, 2000)

rizzle said:


> Fakes as in counterfeits. What I am alluding to is not buying off the street but rather a shop/shops where you know the product you are buying is legit. And yes, I know of the restrictions, etc. It is not myself that will be there rather a non-US citizen friend,


sure


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## poker (Dec 11, 1997)

:r The old fake vs real vs street vendor debate.
What is a fake? IMHO I consider a fake as a counterfeit...period

Main Entry: coun·ter·feit

Function: adjective

1: Made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive 
2: To make fraudulent copies of something valuable.

Lets take a Cohiba for example since its very popular:

If the cigar on the street is being sold as a "Cohiba" it is most likely a fake/counterfeit. That is not saying it is not Cuban tobacco. It probably is all Cuban tobacco, but if it sports a Cohiba band, the band does not make the cigar a Cohiba. Authentic Cohibas incorporate a particular blend of tobaccos (as does any brand/vitola/marca). If the cigar is not made under the authority of Habanos SA, one cannot truthfully call it a Cohiba, for it is not.

Now, if the same cigar is not labeled as a Cohiba, and not sold under the pretense that it is such, but rather a "Farm Cohiba Blend", or Old Cohiba Blend" etc, then it is not a fake. It is being marketed as something other than an authentic Cohiba.

Now if you want the real deal with minimal risk, do as many have already suggested and go to a LCdH or the factories and have peace of mind.


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## rizzle (Mar 4, 2008)

BigVito said:


> sure


Well, being a young, white, Alabama born, male, I could see where you might get us confused.:r

Thanks to all that posted in this thread. Here is how the story ended. My buddy went on the trip, which was a church sponsored mission to build a pharmacy in Havana. Unfortunately he was there during Gustav and they got out of there right before Ike hit. In the small amount of time they had between builing and riding out storms there was no opportunity for them to get into any of the factories and they certainly weren't staying in any luxury hotels, instead sleeping on the floor of one of the churches. So instead of getting my box of Lusi's I got a single Siglo VI tubo from the airport shop on the way out. Oh well. Beggers can't be choosers!


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